presents RIF
Colors and Shapes
Goal: Introduce children to new books about colors and shapes while
reinforcing the concepts of primary colors and basic shapes.
BookSpring will provide:
Read-aloud selections
Laminated examples of colors and shapes
Colorpillar (0-12 months)
Color and shape sorting bowls (1-3 years)
Color and shape ring toss, color wands (3-5 yrs)
Color and shape song lyrics
What to do BEFORE reading the story

Seat the children near you on the carpet (use teacher and volunteer help). Sit on a low chair so that all the children can hear the story and see the illustrations. Proximity is important for children to stay involved in the activity.

For Infants: Spread the colorpillar on the floor and let the babies explore. Take one shape out of the bag
and show it to the babies. Talk about its color and match it to the colorpillar. Ask teachers and aides to help each
infant repeat this task.

For Toddlers: Introduce the primary colors by showing the bowls provided. Ask the children to name the
colors. Sing “If you are wearing red , shake your head.” (see attached lyric sheet) Take an object out of the bag
and help the children place it in the correct bowl. Encourage all the children to participate by sorting the objects.

For Preschoolers: Present the primary colors and shape examples provided. (laminated construction paper.) When introducing each shape, run your finger all around the outside edge as you talk about the number of
sides and corners that the shape has. Compare the shapes to each other. Ask the children how they are the
same and different. Talk about the “special” heart, star and zig zag shapes. These special shapes will be in the
read aloud book. Use the shapes provided with the ring toss game to reinforce the concepts. Ask the children to
match the rope shape to the one shown on the ring toss. They can place the shape over the correct peg. Sing the
color song with the children (lyrics included)
What to do DURING the story

While reading, encourage the children to participate in the story with you. For example: Use the
examples of colors and shapes that are highlighted on the pages of the book. Allow children to locate
the “example” shape that matches to book.

Ensure that every child has the opportunity to look at the details in the pictures.
What to do AFTER reading the story

Take time before the distribution to sing the color song again.

Talk to the children about what RIF means (reading is fundamental!) and tell them that theywill be
choosing a book of their very own to take home.

(For infants and toddlers) Show the children two or three books and allow them to choose thier new
book.

(For Pre-Schoolers)Explain the book selection process. Tell the children that they will be walking
around the tables so that they can see all of the books. When the teacher says stop, they may choose
a book to take home and keep forever. The children will take their books to their teacher, who will write
their names in their books.

After the children have selected their books, volunteers and center teachers should sit down with the
children to begin reading the books the children selected for a short period of time.
Suggested Read-Aloud Books
We will always try to include multiple copies of the suggested read-alouds titles related to the
motivation activity in your book collection.
Bear in a Square/ Oso en un cuadrado
(3-5 year olds)
Discussion Points: While this book is focused on basic colors and shapes, there is so
much to see! Try using the book for the game if “I Spy.” Have children come up to the book and
point out the shape or color requested.
Pass out the shape and color examples included in the kit and when you come to the page
that asks you to look for that shape, ask the children if their shape matches the one on that page.
For example: This page says, “Find the bear in the square.” Are you holding a square? What color
is your square?
Colors/Colores and Shapes/Figuras Geometricas
(1-2 year olds)
Discussion Points:
Both of these books use patterned language. After reading a page, use the examples provided to
reinforce the “book language.” For example, the book says “This frog is green.” Ask a toddler to hold up his
or her object that is green. Model saying: “This car is green, or Jesse’s car is green.”
Do the same with the “I see a red apple” when reading the color book. It is perfectly acceptable to
repeat the statement with many children. Repetition will help the toddlers remember the concepts
I Love Colors/Me Encantan Los Colores
(infants)
Discussion Points:
Use more than one copy of this read-aloud. Ask caregivers to help you by showing the pages to
individual children. After reading a page, talk to the infant about that color. Make a connection to what they
are wearing, or an object close by. For example: Page one says. “red bow.” You can say; “Maria, you
have a red shirt. Touch the red shirt. Look at my red fingernails.”
The facial expressions of the children in the book are wonderful. Talk with the babies about what
those children must be feeling or thinking.
For younger children...
It is necessary to be more interactive with your words. Using a “motherese” voice,
talk about the children and how they are feeling/doing. Motherese is adult-to-child
talk that helps babies learn language and includes the use of short, simple
phrases and changes in the pitch of your voice. Other important visual changes
are your facial expressions and your body language.
Developmental Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening:
The child will :
 Use an expanding expressive vocabulary
 Name familiar people, animals and objects
 show interest in books.
From: Teaching Strategies Gold: Objectives for Development and Learning
BookSpring is proud to present Reading Is Fundamental programs in Austin.
www.bookspring.org